In addition to the certified data collected, the CDE will continue to pull data from the CALPADS Operational Data Store (ODS) periodically through the year on announced dates. These data will be used to:

Determine which students were continuously enrolled at the school or local educational agency (LEA), and which student test scores to “roll back” from an alternative education program (AEP) to the original school or LEA (as defined in the California Code of Regulations, Title 5, Sections 1039.2 and 1039.3) to calculate the Academic Performance Index (API).

In addition, starting with the 2012–13 accountability reporting cycle, all demographic and program participation/eligibility data will be taken from CALPADS to determine student inclusion in the student groups (race and ethnicity, English learners, students with disabilities, and socioeconomically disadvantaged) for accountability and assessment Web reports. As a result, all demographic and program data corrections should be made through CALPADS, providing a cost savings to school districts and independently-testing charter schools. Initial information about this new process was provided in a letter dated August 2, 2013 from Deputy Superintendent Deborah V.H. Sigman and is posted on the CDE CALPADS Communications Web page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/sp/cl/communications.asp.

The certification and amendment window deadlines and CALPADS ODS pull dates are posted on the CDE CALPADS, CBEDS-ORA, and Consolidated Application Reporting System (CARS) Submission Calendar Web page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/dc/es/subcal.asp and are provided as Attachment 1.

Important Fall 1 Data

On Fall Census Day, Wednesday, October 2, 2013, the 2013–14 CALPADS Fall 1 Annual Enrollment window opens, during which time LEAs and Independently Reporting Charter Schools (IRCs) may view and certify reports displaying their 2013–14 Census Day enrollment counts and 2012–13 graduate and dropout counts. This fall, as part of their Fall 1 certification, LEAs will also certify a new report that displays an unduplicated count of English learners (ELs), students eligible for free and reduced-price meals (FRPM), and foster youth enrolled on Census Day. It is important that LEAs review this report for accuracy because these certified counts will feed into the supplemental and concentration factors of the new Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). (Refer to the letter to Superintendents dated August 8, 2013 for an overview of CALPADS data and the LCFF which is posted on the CDE CALPADS Communications Web page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/sp/cl/communications.asp.)

The FRPM unduplicated student count is also used to determine federal Title I and II entitlements for county offices of education (COEs) and direct funded charter schools, and is used to determine grant eligibility for various programs.

The certification deadline for the 2013–14 Fall 1 submission is December 13, 2013. The certification deadline is followed by an amendment window from December 16, 2013 through February 7, 2014, during which time LEAs may amend their Fall 1 data. LEAs that certify their Fall 1 data by the December 13, 2013 certification deadline will be provided a private preview of their preliminary enrollment and graduate and dropout counts and rates during the amendment window. This early preview will allow these LEAs to make further corrections before official enrollment, graduate, and dropout data are posted on DataQuest and viewable by the public.

Assembly Bill 97 (Chapter 47, Statutes of 2013), which established the LCFF, also requires COEs, commencing with the 2013–14 fiscal year, to “review and validate reported English learner, foster youth, and free or reduced-price meal eligible pupil data for school districts and charter schools under its jurisdiction to ensure the data is reported accurately.” Therefore, it is also important that LEAs certify by the certification deadline in order to provide COEs time to review the unduplicated counts of these targeted student populations and to provide feedback to LEAs prior to the close of the amendment window.

As announced earlier this year, LEAs will certify their official English learner, Reclassified Fluent English Proficient (RFEP), and immigrant Census Day counts as part of the Fall 1 collection. LEAs previously certified these data in the spring. It is also important to note that EL services data are certified as part of the Fall 2 data collection.

Superintendent Data Certification

For the CALPADS collections, after the CALPADS Administrator has completed the Level 1 certification, the superintendent or charter school administrator, or designee, must attest to the accuracy of the data on the certification reports by completing the Level 2 certification.

Once the 2013–14 Fall 1 submission begins, you may check the certification status of your LEA or IRC using the CALPADS County-level Certification Report, which will be available on the CDE CALPADS Web page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/calpads via the 2013–14 CALPADS Certification Report link. From the County-level Certification Report Web page, select your county from the drop-down menu and click on the “Get Report” button. A report will be generated listing each LEA and IRC in your county that displays information about their CALPADS Fall 1 certification statuses. The report shows last year’s certified enrollment count, the number of enrollment records within CALPADS so far for the current year, the number of fatal errors, and the certification status for each LEA and IRC in your county. In order to certify the CALPADS Fall 1 data, LEAs and IRCs must have zero fatal errors and an anomaly rate that is less than two percent. Reports are updated weekly.

Closing Remarks

Thank you in advance for your efforts in submitting quality data to the CDE in a timely fashion. We look forward to working with your staff to submit data throughout the year. If you have any questions, please contact: